Helicarrier Infestation
by The Solar Surfer
Summary: Request for Mentoria, a sort-of sequel to Four Little Problems, only now in the Ultimate universe. Spider-Man returns to the SHIELD Helicarrier with Nova after a successful fight, only to discover that the rest of the team has disappeared. While Spider-Man chills in the break room, Nova slowly loses his mind when he begins to think they're having a tiny ant invasion.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **

**I'm not the biggest fan of Ultimate Spider-Man, so some of the characters may act slightly less annoying than they usually are on the show. And I'm sticking with the Spectacular Spider-Man personality, because that's a lot easier to write and I just like Josh Keaton voicing Spider-Man better than Drake Bell.  
**

**I also like beating up on Nova, so that's always fun. Iron Fist, Power Man, and White Tiger will also get their POVS heard, since they're kind of in a lot of trouble.  
**

**Anyways, Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Chapter One

**New York Harbor**

**10:10 AM**

Spider-Man had to admit, when Nova wasn't being a total moron, he could actually fight pretty well.

This was not one of those cases.

The Wrecking Crew, in all their dirty, sweaty glory, was tearing up some cargo ships because, well, they're the Wrecking Crew. Did they even really need a reason to destroy things? Spider-Man didn't find them to be the most challenging team of baddies to fight, but the easiness was negated by Nova's oversized bucket-shaped head.

"Dude!" he cried after avoiding a misfire of cosmic plasma that was supposed to hit Bulldozer, and instead nearly took Spider-Man's head off. "Watch where you're aiming! We could have a headless spider on our hands!"

"Too bad you didn't call yourself Cockroach Man," Nova cackled, flying high above and taking potshots at the Wrecking Crew. They weren't very good potshots – they were about as effective as a drunk mosquito's attempt at annoyance. "Or else maybe you'd actually be useful."  
Spider-Man scowled and dodged Wrecker's attempt to decapitate him with a giant crowbar. He wound a power-house kick, knocking Wrecker flat on his back before jumping on top of some metal crates. Piledriver came at him with his freaky huge fists and smashed two giant holes into the wall of the cargo ship. The baddie looked up and got a face full of web.

He watched as Piledriver cried out in pain and stumbled backwards in a blind rage, scratching at the webbing in a vain attempt to remove it. Spider-Man took the chance to jump down and slam both feet into Piledriver's chest, sending him over the edge of the dock and into the water.

The ensuing splash of a bad guy taking a dip into the Hudson was one of Spider-Man's favorite sounds. He looked up at Nova, who still hadn't done anything useful and said with a smug grin, "Well, if I'm so useless, I wondered how _that_ just happened? Must have been an invisible superhero who's too afraid to be seen with a so-called hero like you, Nova!"

Nova growled and swung a ball of cosmic energy at Spider-Man. It was almost too easy to dodge, and when the attack hit Bulldozer (who was doing a really bad Robo-Cop impression) in the midst of trying to flatten Spider-Man while he wasn't looking. Bulldozer took the blow in the face. Spider-Man landed on the side of the cargo ship, sticking to the metal and wincing when Bulldozer's face disappeared in a flash of blue light. He couldn't imagine what ultra-violet rays might do to unprotected skin.

Spider-Man decided he didn't want to find out. Extending both arms, two ropes of web shot from his web-shooters and wrapped themselves around Bulldozers legs. Spider-Man yanked, expecting to pull Bulldozer into the Hudson like the unlucky Piledriver, but was caught off guard when he accidentally yanked _himself_ off the side of the ship.

He collided headfirst into Bulldozer, who didn't even waver from the impact of an incoming Spidey. Bulldozer, who finally removed his face to reveal one of the worst sunburns (or would it be a Nova-burn?) Spider-Man had ever seen. It was so red it was almost purple, with welts and peeling skin and – _ew… okay, stop looking at it!_ Spider-Man had to force himself to close his eyes and turn his head away.

"I'm sure the pharmacy you knocked down last week has some Aloe Vera for that." Spider-Man pulled himself off of the incapacitated Bulldozer, who fell to his knees and started whimpering. Well, two bad guys down, two more to go.

"Bulldozer, get up!" Wrecker ordered, but Bulldozer was in no mood to fight anymore. Furious, Wrecker raised his crow-bar and charged towards Spider-Man.

Spider sense going off the charts, Spider-Man jumped into the air, using Wrecker's head as a platform to leap higher. Extending a hand, a stream of web extended from his wrist and attached itself to a crane, pulling him upwards and away.

Nova, who finally decided to step in and actually _help_, swooped down and tried to punch Wrecker in the face. This worked about as well as one might expect.

Wrecker knocked Nova out of the air with the crowbar. Nova took the brunt of the blow into the side, and careened into the ground. The impact of his landing left a decent, Nova-sized crater into the wooden dock. Spider-Man almost felt bad, but the bad attempt to actually take out a bad guy left him cracking up.

"Shut up, Webhead!" Nova shouted from his new crater bed. He pulled himself out of the splintered hole and shot back at Wrecker, who turned around to finish him off. But Wrecker hadn't expected Nova to turn in a speeding blue comet with an unusually hard head.

Nova slammed into the Wrecker with so much force that the blue energy encasing his body exploded upon impact. This time, both bad guy and Buckethead went flying – Wrecker into the Hudson, and Nova into the hull of a cargo ship.

Spider-Man would've continued to watch (preferably with some popcorn), but just then his Spidey sense went off. With no clue of the threat and just knowing he _needed to get the heck out of there_, Spider-Man jumped off the crane. Just in time, too, because Thunderball had just knocked it down with his…wrecking ball. Jeez, these guys weren't exactly geniuses with coming up with names, were they?

"Hey, hey, I'm swinging here!" Spider-Man yelled, flying Tarzan-style around the dock, going back around to take on Thunderball. The wrecking-ball equipped bad guy prepared for the incoming attack, twirling the giant ball-and-chain like it was a lasso.

As soon as Spider-Man came within twenty feet, Thunderball let go. The giant metal sphere came shooting at Spider-Man, but he was ready. Twisting around the ball, Spider-Man braced for touchdown, squeezing his eyes shut and wincing in anticipation.

_WHUMP!_

That was the sound of a spider smacking into the chest of a man three times his size. The force of the blow knocked Thunderball back, but not hard enough to take him down. Still, the baddie was a little out of breath, and Spider-Man had the advantage. Sticking a thick rope of web to the man's chest, Spider-Man jumped over his head and pulled as hard as he could.

Thunderball toppled backwards, landing on his back and sending huge vibrations across the dock. He groaned, but Spider-Man wasn't done yet. Going back, he wrapped up Thunderball's feet in a solid casing of web, before leaping into the air and swinging high. He pulled up Thunderball by the thick rope still in his hand, and tied it to the top of another crane, which strained to hold up the weight. Thunderball struggled, but the wrecking ball attached to his wrist made it impossible for him to move his arms.

"And that's what I call," Spider-Man clapped his hands, shaking off excess webbing. "Wrapping things up."

Thunderball whined beneath him. "That's not even a real pun!"

Spider-Man was not going to allow a bad guy to criticize his attempt at witticism, but in the distance he heard police sirens. He turned to Nova and called out, "Hey, we gotta go. Can you hurry things up a little bit?"

"Things would go a lot faster if you helped!" Nova snapped back. He was still in the middle of fighting Wrecker, but it was pretty obvious he was winning. Spider-Man didn't want to admit it, but if you got Nova angry enough, he started spouting off enough energy and stupid insults that they can overwhelm his opponents.

Wrecker, spent and sunburnt, dropped to his knees and keeled over. Nova, hovering in the air, planted both fists on his hips and declared, "Ha, none can handle the awesome and powerful Nova! I am undefeated!"

Spider-Man decided to rain on the little Nova-parade the hero was celebrating all by himself. A glob of web bounced off Nova's helmet, almost knocking it off. Nova whipped around, shouting, "Hey!" but Spider-Man was already swinging out of sight, laughing all the way.

Spider-Man managed to get to the Helicarrier first, although it was a neck-and-neck race with Nova, who wasn't going to let that affront get by without punishment. Spider-Man barely managed to dodge a swipe for his head before landing on the launch pad and ducking inside the nearest door.

And so began a small race to the break room, Spider-Man loosing the fight because he couldn't swing across the halls while Nova shot by like a bright blue bullet. Spider-Man decided to let it go, figuring the competition would go on forever if he didn't just give up now.

When he finally made it to the break room, he was surprised by how bare it was. Not bare because it was devoid of furniture – oh, no, it had plenty of that. Couches, TV, pinball machines and arcade games, even a fridge and fully stocked candy bar. There was, of course, some boxing dummies and exercise mats, scratched up from all of White Tiger's insane practice drills.

No, what caught Spider-Man off guard was the severe lack of _teenagers_ here. Usually the five of them: Spider-Man, Nova, Power Man, Iron Fist, and White Tiger would all be here, unless on a mission or training with Nick Fury. But nope, they were all gone.

Nova was already there, looking around in confusion before heading straight to the candy bar and grabbing a handful of wrapped chocolate pieces lying in a bowl. He munched on them thoughtfully before he said, "I hope they didn't start a party without me."

Spider-Man had no clue where Nova got the idea that the other three might be partying, but shrugged it off. They were probably off fighting another bunch of bad guys. He flopped down onto the couch and got ready to catch up with his favorite soap opera, _General Hospital_.

Because, really, how much trouble could a bunch of superhero kids get themselves into, anyways?


	2. Chapter 2

**i finally got this chapter done. It's mostly introductory, but i needed to establish the new characters first. I was stumped for the longest time on what to make them, and their powers, names, etc. But now i've got it! Puns ahoy!**

**Reviews are appreciated.  
**

* * *

Chapter Two

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

**10:30 AM**

Spider-Man didn't think it was odd that about half of his team was missing, but Nova definitely noticed. Of course, who else was going to see how awesome he was and try to prove him wrong?

But they had no idea what really happened to their friends. While Spider-Man caught up with his show and Nova flexed his muscles in a nearby mirror, the rest of the team were in a whole lot of trouble.

"What the _hell_ are those idiots doing?" White Tiger demanded, hands on hips. She pointed up at the two super teens not doing anything about their problem, huffing. "It's like they don't even care that we're missing!"

"Chill out, they just got here," Power Man tried to justify Spider-Man's and Nova's behavior, but even _he_ couldn't deny that neither of the two were known for their tact. "Give 'em some time and they're figure it out...eventually."

"When times seem most dire, great opportunities will present themselves." Iron Fist said mysteriously.

The other two stared at him, before White Tiger rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Fortune Cookie. Look, what are we going to do about the other guys who got shrunk? They might be causing trouble and we'd have no idea! If we don't do something about them, Fury's gonna kick us off the team for sure!"

"Well," Power Man checked his wrist, trying to turn on his communicator but only receiving static. "They probably won't get very far if they're in the same state as us. Speaking of which, where are those losers?"

"Uh," White Tiger scanned the area, but if those on-the-loose super baddies were up to no good, they were doing an excellent job keeping it on the down low. "I don't know, I can't see them. But let's be honest, they are _not _our biggest problem here. I can't wait to tell Fury all about this when we finally get back to normal."  
"You mean about those two?" Iron Fist pointed up at Nova and Spider-Man. "If we're going to get their attention, we'll need a plan."

They looked at White Tiger, who was now in deep contemplation. While neither could tell, she was quietly calculating logistics and possibilities, whittling her options down to what would best serve their purpose with the least amount of effort and greatest amount of effect. To the outside eye, it looked as though she might be stumped. Power Man gave her about five seconds before crossing his arms and asking, "Well?"

"Hold on," White Tiger began to pace. Perhaps it was because she was now smaller than an ant that maybe her thought processes weren't top notch. "If we can't contact them through our communicators, then we'll have to sent them a message somehow, one that they can both read and understand. We should probably try Spider-Man first, since he's the lesser of stupid between the two of them."

"And if that doesn't work?" Power Man asked, raising an eyebrow. He nodded towards Nova, who was now chowing down on three chocolate granola bars at once. "If our last hope is Nova, then we're as good as dead."

"Wow, no faith in the cosmic protector of the universe?" There was a trace of a smile on Iron Fist's face. He simply shook his head and said, "Indeed, he's foolish, but not hopeless. I think we should attempt to alert them both, on the off chance that one has the perception the other lacks."

White Tiger took this in, nodding slowly. "Okay, you have a point. Nova's wrong only most of the time, so I guess we might still have a chance. But what's a message obvious enough for him to understand?"

That had all three of them stumped. Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, three very different but equally tiny supers were trying to figure out a way to solve their own situation, mostly by recounting how it even happened in the first place. Two of them were in a heated argument, trying to put the blame of this entire disaster on each other, while the third was rocking in a fetal position, plugging his ears and singing "La, la, la!" and trying to block the other two out.

Jasper, Diamond, and Cubic Zirconia weren't exactly SHIELD's Most Terrifying enemies, not even their Most Powerful, but they were certainly in the running for Most Annoying. Diamond and Cubic Zirconia were twin sisters who had a tendency for bad timing and petty fights over who's older, more popular, and totally not synthetic when they should be robbing banks or fighting superheroes.

Their younger brother Jasper was a nervous man, constantly cowed by his older sisters who treated him even worse than each other. Always told by his parents (Pearl and Mica Sterling) he was only 'semi-precious' and therefore second-class to the other two, much more marketable sisters.

As he sat there, wishing he should've never joined Diamond and Cubic Zirconia on their stupid attempt of a great escape, Jasper was the only one who really knew what had happened.

It all started when Diamond and Cubic Zirconia, in their rare moments of teamwork, recognized a lapse in SHIELD security and decided to use it to their advantage. They coerced Jasper into joining them, and because of his severe agoraphobia he was terrified to being left behind. Everything actually went pretty well, all things considering.

The first step of the plan went perfectly. At lunch hour, when all of the inmates on the SHIELD Helicarrier were given their daily food portions of the day, Diamond grabbed the hand of the man serving her food and heated up her core temperature, burning his hand and turning hers into the shiniest, toughest substance on earth. Wounded, the man was taken by surprise when a diamond fist smashed through the steel-alloy barrier separating personnel from inmate, and took him out with a swift kick to the head.

At the same time, Cubic Zirconia had managed to smash a part of the wall on the inside of her cell, revealing a set of very important wires. With her hand exposed, Cubic Zirconia ripped out the wires and disconnected them. Her cell recognized the immediate threat and released a freezing agent to stop her, but being a natural thermal insulator she was unaffected by the sudden drop in temperature and simply used it to break down the now-brittle metal of the door.

Jasper himself managed to escape his own cell by concentrating his powers on the man serving his own food and putting the guard to sleep just as he punched in the security code. He walked freely out of his own cell, watching in perhaps resigned disappointed as Diamond and Cubic Zirconia dissolved into another fight, this time about Diamond may or may not having kissed one of the cuter SHIELD agents before knocking him out.

The next phase of their plan didn't go as well, because of the aforementioned fight. They managed to fight their way out of the detention center, but instead of finding the part of the ship where they keep all their escape pods, they instead wandered into a room full of very delicate science experiments and equipment. Jasper tried to find a map and get them out of there, but by then it was too late.

Three teenaged superheroes had arrived on the scene, ready to take on this new threat inside their own home. Of course, the three siblings were completely out of their depth and got their butts whooped by a couple kids, but before any of them could get specialty handcuffs slapped on them, Jasper hit the nearest button he could find and turned on one of the machines inside the lab.

He had no idea what the mushroom-shaped machine did until suddenly the room got very, _very_ big and suddenly the resident vacuum drones became their most dangerous enemy yet. Escape was long and hazardous, but the three super villains managed to follow the three superheroes down a ventilation shaft, where they were carried on heated air currents into the superheroes' break room, where they now resided.

"...Maybe if you weren't so _fake_ we wouldn't be here!" Diamond shouted at Cubic Zirconia, jabbing a finger into her sister's sternum. Her blond hair glittered transparent in the bright light of the room. They had a great view on top of this shelf, but the two sisters were too busy arguing to make good use of it.

"Yeah, well," Cubic Zirconia fumed, stumbling over her words to come up with a decent comeback. Her short, spiky hair was slightly messy from the trip down the ventilation shaft, but besides that looked like an exact copy of her sister. "You're - You're a_ cliché_!"

"Pfft!" Diamond tossed her head, drawing her shoulders back. "I'm a classic! You're the poor man's version of me!"

"Ugh!" Cubic Zirconia slammed her palms into Diamond's chest, sending her twin sister falling back and tripping over a candy bar. "Overpriced attention hog!"

"Glorified knock-off!" Diamond shouted back.

Jasper sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. Yes, this is why they never reached phase three of their rather ill-conceived plan. Still, as scared as he was, Jasper understood that there was no way any of them were getting out of here alive if he didn't step up to the plate. But what could he do?

Of course, that was when regular-sized superheroes Nova and Spider-Man walked in and made themselves comfortable in the break room below. Then Jasper got an idea.

He stood, clenching his fists and taking a deep breath and whispered, "Hey, guys...?"

"You're _ugly_!" Diamond accused.

"Am _not_!" Cubic Zirconia gasped.

Neither sister heard him. They were too busy trying to ruin each other's outfits. Jasper almost decided to sit back down and wait this out before he forced himself to steel his nerves and say a little louder, "Guys, you gotta listen..."

"I'm flawless!"Cubic Zirconia shouted.

"_I'm perfect!_" Diamond screamed.

"GUYS!" Jasper bellowed, silencing the argument and startling all three of them. They stared at him, wide-eyed. He realized he had only a few seconds before they turned their anger on him. "I mean...uh...I have an idea."


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy New Years! We lived through the apocalypse! Yay!**

******Reviews are appreciated. **Enjoy :)  


* * *

Chapter Three

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

**10:45AM**

White Tiger looked down, ordering, "Come on, guys, use that upper body strength! We're not tall enough yet!"

"Well, you know what would be great?" Power Man grumbled, spitting Iron Fist's foot out of his mouth. He struggled to keep balance with two super teens on his shoulders. "How does growing a couple inches sound to you?"

"Guys, I believe some spiritual cooperation is in order here," Iron Fist said, carefully propping up White Tiger in the palm of his hands. Of the three of them, he was the only one keeping his center of balance. Although this was hardly a challenge, since he often spent time meditating, doing handstands on his fingertips. "United, we conquer."

"Dude, we're climbing on a stack of _Legos_, to reach a _couch_," Power Man snapped. "The only thing we're conquering is our vertical ineptitude."

"Ooh, ineptitude," White Tiger said, looking down at her teammate in admiration. "You've finally started studying for your vocab quizzes, haven't you?"

"Just shut up and climb, Tiger."

"Will do," she replied with a smirk, reaching up and extending her claws. They dug into the fabric of the couch with ease, and she lifted herself up. Too bad she couldn't climb walls - as incredibly weird as Peter could be, she had to admit that was one power she envied him for. However, she wasn't about to trade genetically enhanced spider-bite for her cat powers, so she decided that maybe what she had was for the best. She didn't want to get caught in the middle of a mission, narrating her life as Spider-Man did, to the tiny audience in his head. She was pretty sure that he had one too many hits to the head.

As White Tiger climbed, Iron Fist and Power Man were left to their own devices to follow. Unfortunately, grappling hooks or suction-cup gloves weren't exactly standard issue, so they had to rely on their own (limited) intelligence to figure a way up. Power Man did it the hard way, by clinging to the strands of fibers and hauling himself up, while Iron Fist was scaling the wooden frame, using the tiny knicks and splinters for hand holds. It was certainly faster, but he risked chaffing his hands on the rough wood. Fixing that would not be fun.

After a good half hour of climbing, the three of them finally managed to reach the top. Exhausted, they collapsed, taking a breather before moving on with the next phase of their plan.

They didn't have to wait that long.

While Spider-Man was still watching TV on the couch and Nova making airplane noises as he played a scenario dogfight with a Milky Way and some Oreos, another man walked in. A tall man, with an eye patch, and billowing long coat.

"Oh, my god, it's Nick Fury!" White Tiger gasped, jumping to her feet. She motioned frantically for the other two to join her. "Come on, guys, we can get his attention from here!"

The three of them hopped up and down from their spot on the couch, waving their arms and screaming at the top of their lungs, hoping to draw Nick Fury's one remaining eye towards them. But with his peripheral vision limited, Nick Fury did not see them as he walked into the room, picked a donut from the box on the counter, said something to Nova about not playing with his food, and walked straight on out, without even noticing them.

"Nooo!" White Tiger wailed, falling to her knees. She extended an arm in the direction Nick Fury left, shaking it angrily. "How did he not see us? _How did he not see us! _He was our _one chance_ of getting out of this mess, and _he didn't even see us!_"

"Hey, chill out," Power Man said, dropping down on the spot beside her. "We've still got Spider-Man and Nova - we can still reach them somehow. I mean, Spider-Man's right there, three feet away!"

"Do you know how _long_ three feet is for someone our size? It's going to take _forever_ to get there, and even longer to get his attention," White Tiger groaned, letting her face fall into her palms. She sighed heavily. "Look at him! He's practically attached to that TV! He won't notice us past that melodramatic plotline. It's hopeless!"

"I vote we split up." Iron Fist raised a finger in declaration. All this negative emotion was grating on his Zen, and if he let White Tiger's depression get to him, he feared that their situation will worsen. "I will go with White Tiger to Spider-Man. I'm sure we can detach him from that screen. Meanwhile, Power Fist will go to Nova."

"And knock some sense into that Buckethead," Power Man grinned, slamming his fist into the other palm for emphasis.

White Tiger sniffed, looking up and smiling behind her mask. Their unwavering zeal was invigorating for her, and she felt inspired all ready. "Okay. Good idea. We should go, before something else - something _worse_ - happens to us." She presented her fist to the other two. "You guys ready?"

"Are you kidding?" Power Man smirked as he an Iron Fist bumped their fists with hers. "Let's do this thing."

Meanwhile, on the other end of the room, Jasper was having a quiet, stressful meltdown. He had completely forgotten what he was going to say to his sisters when they turned to look at him, their cold blue eyes boring into him like extra-sharp drills. If he said one wrong thing, they would tear him apart.

"Well?" Diamond demanded when Jasper didn't explain his plan immediately. She planted hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

Cubic Zirconia, always the most rambunctious cocksure of the three of them, got right up into Jasper's face and demanded, "Spit it out, twerp! I don't have all day! Do you have an idea _or not_?"

"Y-yes! Please don't hurt me!" Jasper yelped, stumbling back before Cubic Zirconia could slug him. "Okay, you see that arcade game over there? If we walk across the shelves, we can jump down and turn it on. Then they can see us and get us out of here!"

"What, get the super brats to help us?" Diamond sneered, shaking her head. "No way, not in a million years! You know what Dad would say about this? He'd call us cowards, looking for help! We should figure out our own way!"

"Yeah?" Cubic Zirconia turned on her sister, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "How do you suppose you can do that, Miss I've-Got-A-Degree-In-Beauty-School?"

"Hmph!" Diamond turned up her nose, crossing her arms to the insult.

"Guys, come on!" Jasper pleaded, clasping his hands together. He knew he was too afraid to do it alone, but he couldn't stand just _standing here and doing nothing_. He was pretty sure he'd go insane. "Unless one of you has a better idea...?"

Jasper realized he shouldn't have said that immediately after he said it.

"Why should I have to come up with a plan?" Diamond sneered, pointing at Cubic Zirconia. "It was _her_ idea that got us in this mess; she should be the one to get us out of it!"

"_Excuse me_?" Cubic Zirconia snapped, turning her sister with her hands on her hips. "Whose idea was it to rob that stupid bank, anyways? _I_ wanted to break into that jewelry store!"

"_I_ wanted to go bowling." Jasper mumbled under his breath, but of course no one heard him.

"Huh!" Diamond sniffed, tossing her head once more. Her hair flickered in the light. "Well, _my_ bank robbing plan would've gone perfectly, if it hadn't been for _you_ and your little issue with _nuns_!"

"It's not my problem that _that _was the day they decided to deposit funding for a charity!" Cubic Zirconia cried, looking panicked. It was well known within the Sterling family that Cubic Zirconia had a nasty case of Sphenisciphobia, or phobia of nuns, but Cubic Zirconia tried to justify it - the habits they wore simply gave her the chills, but besides that there was nothing to worry about.

Of course, there was little Cubic Zirconia could say in her own defense when she had a panic attack watching _The Sound of Music._

Still, her fear hadn't come into play for a while now, or at least until they tried to rob that bank. The nuns, who were cowering on the ground like every other civilian in the lobby, had her terrified. When it came to the time when they had to make their escape, Cubic Zirconia choked and found herself petrified, unable to take her gaze away from the group of nuns. She had to be hauled away by several policemen who had arrived on the scene.

Neither of her siblings forgot this crucial fact, but Jasper was wise enough not to bring it up. However, Diamond wasn't going to let up and the twin sisters once again fell into another fight that saw no resolution in the future.

When Nick Fury, head of SHIELD, walked in to snag a donut, and the twins didn't even notice, Jasper realized that he was going to get nowhere with his sisters. As much as it terrified him, he would have to get out of here on his own, somehow, without getting himself killed. He had no fighting experience, never killed someone, and the worst crime he committed before getting caught by SHIELD were a of couple parking tickets.

Jasper just wanted to go back to his little apartment and sleep for an age. Was that too much to ask for?

And maybe, once he got out of there, he'd disown himself from his family. That sounded like a pretty good idea, too.

Neither Diamond nor Cubic Zirconia noticed their brother leaving. They were too busy thinking about themselves to care.

OoOoO

Spider-Man watched the TV avidly, not daring to take his eyes off in case he missed a crucial bit of information. One blink and _bam!_ You have no idea how that person just died. _It's like, WTF, guys! Who's the funeral for?  
_  
Behind him, Nova was narrating and aerial battle only he could see, eating the fallen 'planes' and . "And the P-12 takes down _another_ German Oreo. Down the hatch!"

"Dude!" Spider-Man complained, looking over his shoulder as Nova made a mess of the cookie. "Could you keep it down? It's getting intense!"

"I know, right?" Nova grinned, and stuffed his face with more Oreos. Spider-Man just rolled his eyes and settled back down in his seat. Of course, Nova wouldn't understand the importance of something as complicated as _General Hospital_. He was pretty sure Buckethead had never even seen _Desperate Housewives_. He was totally missing out.

It was then Nick Fury came in, looked around at the two super teens not really doing anything productive, and said, "Where are the others? Shouldn't they be back from school?"

Nova and Spider-Man shrugged simultaneously, not looking away from their current activity.

Nick Fury raised an eyebrow, unimpressed with his team's lack of concern. Still, he was sure that Nova and Spider-Man would figure out what happened to the other three eventually. It wouldn't take them long to realize that something was wrong and that their friends needed their help. It would be a good lesson for the both of them, solving each other's problems.

So Nick Fury wouldn't have to do it for them.

Nick Fury would've given the two super teens a hint by handing them the security footage to watch and see what had happened to their missing friends, but that would've made it too easy. In the real world, it wouldn't be so easy. They'd have to do it on their own.

Coming to this decision, Nick Fury simply shook his head and smiled to himself, taking a doughnut as he did so. Ooh, Boston Cream! His favorite!

He glanced at Nova, who was covered in crumbs and acting like a five-year-old. "Stop playing with your food, cosmic wonder, or I'll put you on bathroom duty. With just a toothbrush."

Nova looked up at him and paled at the threat of punishment. He quickly brushed off the food residue from his suit and set down the candy-toys, looking more than a little embarrassed. Nick Fury smirked, satisfied with the kid's flustered apologies.

And as Nick Fury left the room, Spider-Man thought he heard a strange whining noise. Oh, no, was this TV acting up as well? First Aunt May's, now SHIELD had shoddy equipment. And this was a flat-screen! Flat-screen didn't make high-pitched ringing sounds, did they?

Spider-Man picked up a Lego and chucked it at the TV. It bounced off the screen with a small _plink!_ The weird sound stopped a second later, and Spider-Man continued to watch his show in peace.

Hmm. Maybe White Tiger liked _General Hospital. _Or Power Man. Probably not Iron Fist, Spider-Man doubted the Zen Master would be into that kind of thing, all superficial and over-the-top. But Spider-Man supposed he'd have to wait until they got back before he could ask.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this came in a little late, I had three appointments in the past two days. I've been so BUSY!**

**Anyways, enjoy! Reviews are appreciated.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**SHIELD Helicarrier **

**10:30 AM**

Spider-Man looked around when Nova started jumping up and down on top of the table like a maniac. "Dude, what's your issue? Are you off your meds or something?"

"Ants!" Nova cried, whirling around as if some ghost were trying to bite his ankles. He hopped up on one foot and peered down, searching the surface of the table for something he couldn't see. "I found one on me and I didn't get to kill it!"

Spider-Man stared at Nova. "Well, they were probably attracted to all the food you've been eating. Maybe you should stop eating for_ once_..."

"You know I can't do that!" Nova complained, throwing Spider-Man a dirty look. He was currently doing a very good impression of an orangutan, hanging from the pipes on the ceiling, although Spider-Man doubted that was his intention. "I have a high metabolism! You think those energy blasts come from nothing? I need calories, bro, if I want to fly and do all that other great stuff."

"Well, 'great' wouldn't be the word _I'd_ use," Spider-Man muttered.

"Shut up!"

Spider-Man rolled his eyes and groaned. This moron was making him miss his show for no good reason. "I'm sure if you head over to the lab, you can find some ant repellent or something."

"I can't leave!" Nova protested. He motioned down to the ground, being careful not to touch the tile - as though he were playing the Floor is Lava game. "What if I come back and find the place infested? There's going to be an outbreak, and then there will be too many to stop! Have you ever _seen_ Mars Attacks?"

"I'm pretty sure you have _no idea_ what you're talking about."

"I'm serious, dude, I think there are bugs in here!"

"And what does that have to do with Mars Attacks?"

"I hate bugs!"

"Well, speaking for my fellow arachnids," Spider-Man pressed a hand to his chest. "I am incredibly offended. No one likes a bigot."

"I thought you were always saying that bugs and arachnids were different?" Nova frowned at him, taking a moment from freaking out to cross his arms and glare at Spider-Man. "Something you never shut up about, like, ever."

"That's different," Spider-Man held up a finger, "And people still classify arachnids in the same category as bugs, which I'm sure is what you were referring to."

"They're _ants_, dude! ANTS!"

"Then squish them, before they get all over my popcorn."

"Aren't you going to help me?"

"I am a man of spiders; I don't harsh on my distant cousins."

"You are impossible."

"So is your negative IQ score, and yet _you're_ still alive." Spider-Man snickered, stuffing popcorn into his mouth and turning back to the TV. It was just too easy to poke fun on Nova. "Funny how that works out,"

Nova scowled and dropped down onto the table. He refused to be made fun of a guy who associates himself with _spiders_, of all creatures. Spiders gave Nova the creeps, but not as much bunnies.

_Eugh._ Nova shivered just thinking about those furry little bastards. They were a whole different story.

Nova thought ants were a lot like bunny rabbits, even though they weren't even in the same scientific family (were they? Nova couldn't actually be sure. Spider-Man would know, but Nova knew better than to give Spider-Man a chance to make fun of him again). Ants went were they didn't belong (Nova's food), much like rabbits (Nova's head). Their numbers seemed to grow by the day and no amount of insecticide seemed to get rid of them.

The ant Nova had found in his cookie crumbs managed to escape death by millimeters, kamikaze-ing off the table in its attempt to get away. Nova couldn't find it again after that but he hoped it met a very sticky end.

He began searching through the shelves of food, looking for more ants that might be crawling around. Nova was sure Spider-Man had a bug-sensing ability that could help him find the stupid ants, but Webhead was holding out on him. So he stuck out on his own, and found another pair of ants, and almost smashed them as well before they scattered.

_Damn!_ Nova smacked the shelf in frustration. Where did they go? He almost had them! He tried looking for their source, a hole in the wall or something, but Nova was stupid for trying. The Helicarrier was built like Fort Knox, there wasn't a single crack in the wall for any bug to crawl through.

But Nova was not to be deterred. He may have lost the battle, but not the war. The Stonewall guy said that, and he won _his_ war. Right?

Nova was sure he was.

OoOoO

Falling three and a half feet when only a couple centimeters high was not Jasper's idea of fun, no siree.

Landing certainly wasn't a picnic, either. Jasper felt like he had just been hit by a ton of literal bricks, and barely had the willpower to get up and keep moving before the strange looking super teen wearing a bucket on his head could squash him underfoot.

He managed to hide under the cabinets, watching the super teen from there. He had managed to climb down the arcade game to get to the ground, but was unable to catch anyone's attention from there. Instead, he traveled across the counter-top, scampering across the perilous sink before hitching a ride on the teen's candy bar to get to the table. From there he got the kid's attention, but not the kind he wanted. Thing just went downhill from there.

From his hiding spot, Jasper watched as Nova found his sisters, still arguing, on top of the shelf. He couldn't tell if they got away or where they went if they did, but from the hero's ensuing sign of frustration, Jasper had to assume he missed. He let out a breath of relief. That was one less thing he had to explain to his parents once he got home.

Jasper couldn't think up another plan, and secretly hoped his sisters would find them so they could take the lead again. All this 'going solo' business had nearly gotten him killed and Jasper wasn't keen on trying it again.

While he hid under the cabinets, on the other side of the room, the shrunken super teens saw the entire thing in awe.

"Oh, my god, they're here too!" White Tiger cried. "Aw, man, Fury's gonna kill us if we let them get away!"

"Relax," Iron Fist raised a hand to calm her. He always seemed to know what to say in situations such as these. "We must solve our own personal problems before we can handle the larger ones. We can do that by following through on what we've already set out to do."

White Tiger took a deep breath, shaking her head to remove distracting thoughts . "Of course, what am I thinking? We're no good at this size! Fury would laugh at me if he ever find out! Alright, as of right now, Nick Fury will _never_ hear about this, got it?"

"Crystal," Iron Fist nodded, as serene as if she were asking if he wanted some soda and not implying to rip his throat out if he didn't.

"Good," White Tiger cracked her knuckles and unsheathed her claws. She hooked a thumb over to the TV-engrossed Spider-Man, munching loudly on popcorn. "Let's go knock some sense into this bughead."

"I believe he's actually an arachnid, not a bug,"

"Shut up."

They traveled down the couch seat, taking one inch at a time. Meanwhile, across the room, Power Man was struggling to make his way to Nova, who was constantly moving around and looking for more ants. Now Power Man was beginning to think that this was a bad idea - what if Nova thought _he_ was a bug too, and tried to squash him? Power Man still hadn't a clue how his super abilities were affected from the shrinkage and hoped that his invulnerability hadn't left him at this moment of crisis.

"This is _so_ not cool," he grumbled to himself, ducking behind a chair leg before he could get smashed underfoot. Nova, as usual, was acting like an idiot. Still, he had managed to find the bad guys, also super tiny, along the shelves. Power Man thought the idea of catching _them_ instead of almost getting killed by Nova was much more favorable.

Too bad he didn't really have much of a choice.

Power Man then noticed the cereal scattered across the table top from one of Nova's half a dozen snacks he'd eaten in the past half hour. The table seemed impossibly far, incredibly high, and probably a pain in the ass to climb, but now he had an idea.

He ducked behind various objects on the ground as he made his way to the table. Out of breath by the time he got to a table leg, Power Man now had to figure out how he was going to get up there. It was smooth wood and all the rock climbing experience in the world wouldn't help him out here. Power Man sat down and brainstormed an idea to get himself up there.

It was Nova, of all people, who inspired him.

Nova had taken a break from his ant inquisition to have another snack. He sat down in one of the chairs, occasionally tossing Oreos into the air and blasting them to bits with his finger-pistols. Power Man found this incredibly offensive - no cookie, especially an Oreo, shouldn't be wasted like that. They should be _eaten_.

Either way, he was distracted long enough for Power Man to creep over and use Nova's foot to start climbing. The guy wouldn't be able to feel a thing through his suit, and Power Man thought this might actually work out.

At least until Spider-Man decided to get involved.


	5. Chapter 5

**(1/26/2013) RE-EDIT: As Mentoria requested, I made some changes to the chapter. Here you go!  
**

**Sorry this came in a little late, I just started classes and forgot :/ Anyways, the next chapter should be on schedule.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

**Reviews are appreciated.**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**11:00AM**

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

Spider-Man had left his seat to aid Nova in his quest to destroy the supposed mutant ants.

"They're see-through!" Nova exclaimed, pointing at a bare spot on the table. Spider-Man peered in closer, but couldn't find anything. "Right there!"

Spider-Man looked at Nova. He was pretty sure Buckethead had lost his mind. "Dude, you've lost it."

Nova acting like he hopped on the crazy train was not abnormal. One time, soon after they first met Nova decided that it would be a great idea to bring out Mysterio at the New York Zoo. Of course, no one was surprised when Mysterio sic-ed a pack of lions on Nova, and it took White Tiger's vague knowledge of cat language to call them off.

There were numerous occasions in which the team's problems stemmed from something so brain-numbingly _stupid_ Nova did. The Bermuda Triangle Fiasco was hardly one of Nova's worst mistakes. The one Spider-Man thought really took the cake was when the cosmic protector of the universe came face to face with a Skrull and for some reason decided not to tell SHIELD until it was almost too late.

Spider-Man hadn't been there to see it, but apparently the Skrull thought Nova would be the perfect candidate to kidnap and replace even though it was virtually impossible to convincingly mimic someone so dense. Unfortunately for the Skrull (and the one time everyone was glad it was Nova and not someone important, like Captain America), Buckethead managed to figure out what was going on and blast the Skrull to ashy bits, but not before getting his brain probed for memories.

Killing the Skrull invoked an attack on New York City and the SHIELD Helicarrier that protected it. Spider-Man and the rest of his team had to bust them up while the Avengers took the battle to space before any civilians could figure out what was going on. Nova managed to make up for his mistake by killing the most Skrulls (even more than Spider-Man, himself upset that Buckethead had beaten the teen-super record he had set). While it made him even with the team, Nova still had to do a month's worth of community service for SHIELD. Nick Fury wouldn't let him on any missions the entire time. He hadn't been missed.

So, Spider-Man figured (quite understandably) that Nova was just being his normal, weirdo self. No Skrull could imitate this guy - they were too smart to commit any typical Nova move.

"I'm serious, dude, look!" Nova, however wasn't going to be treated such a way. While he himself understood that sometimes his ideas weren't that smart (and usually too late, anyways) he knew for a _fact_ that the room was besieged with bugs. He slammed his palm on the table, the unusually fast ant escaping through his fingers. "See? There it goes!"

"You can't smash it," Spider-Man didn't know why he was offering advice, but he didn't have anything better to do now that his show had ended. "You'll need a magnifying glass."

"Why the heck would I need one of those?" Nova snapped, wrinkling his nose at the idea. "That's stupid."

Spider-Man raised his hands in surrender and took a step back. If Nova wanted to make this harder on himself, Spider-Man wasn't going to stop him.

Nova began to search through the cupboards in search of a weapon to end the lives of those ants Spider-Man was pretty sure didn't exist. He found insect repellent and a flyswatter but threw them aside for whatever reason. Instead, he picked up a cast-iron pan, a bottle of bleach, and a magnifying glass. He raised it in the air triumphantly. "A-ha! I can fry them with _this_!"

"But I just -" Spider-Man began to protest, then shook his head, thinking better of it. Getting into another fight with a paranoid Nova wouldn't lead to anything good, he knew that for certain. "Oh, never mind."

Nova smirked and returned to the table, scanning the surface once more. He sat on a chair and held the magnifying glass up close to his face, peering into it like he were a silly version of Sherlock Holmes. Nova couldn't find any ants at first, since his first attack had them reasonably paranoid. But the ant, realizing that eventually Nova would find her under that leftover Oreo crumb, she decided to sum up her courage and take this guy on.

The cosmic wonder of the universe practically jumped out of his chair when he saw the ant coming straight towards him. Instead, he only laughed, bewildered to have angered it so much that it was running on its hind legs. "Hey, check it out! This one's going kamikaze on me!"

Nova decided that if the ant wanted to die, he'd be happy to oblige. Using his other hand not holding the magnifying glass, he lit up a finger with some cosmic energy and let the light hover over the glass. The glass focused it into a tiny burning circle on the surface of the table. The ant managed to swerve around it, leading to a smoking hole on the table as Nova repositioned the glass, trying to catch the ant underneath it.

_Ssss!_

Nova grinned as the ant was caught beneath the searing heat of the magnifying glass.

Spider-Man didn't actually think it would work, but the following smell of something burning had him alarmed. "Whoa, dude, you're searing a hole into the table! Stop, before someone comes in and sees you destroying government property."

"Yes!" Nova jumped down and peered at the smoking spot on the wood. "I got him! Woo! How you like them apples, ant? Yeah, you can't handle the all great and powerful Nova! Bow down to your leader!"

Spider-Man pushed him aside to examine the spot, sitting on the table to get closer. Had he really got the ant? Even now, it was too late to tell. The little pile of ash was almost too small to see, but it was definitely there. But was it wood, or the cremating of a little ant?

That's when a brilliant idea hit him.

"So, what do you think?" Nova asked, fists on hips and chest puffed out. "Believe me _now_, don't you?"

Spider-Man smirked. "Yeah, but I think we should clean this up before someone sees it, here..." he wiped his finger across the ash, and before Nova could react, deposited the remains on Buckethead's face. "That's better!"

"AUUGGHHH!" Nova cried, scratching at his face as if he had just contracted rabies. He raced over to the sink, turn on the facet, and stuck his entire head into the stream of water. "What the hell, man! Now I'm contaminated with bug dust!"

Spider-Man was cracking up while Nova had his panic attack. He began to laugh even harder as Nova reemerged from the sink, drenched and fuming. It didn't help when Nova started yelling obscenities as him, and Spider-Man had to take off his mask before it, too, got soaked from his tears of mirth.

"You, sir," Nova huffed, his face completely red. He probably would be glowing right now, but the helmet had fallen into the sink, leaving Nova barren of powers. "Have a twisted head, you know that?"

"Ha, it was so worth it! You're completely soaked!"

Nova crossed his arms and stomped out of the room. "I'm getting dry clothes. When I come back, those other ants better be dead, or there'll be hell to pay!"

Other ants? Spider-Man stopped laughing and looked around. How many could there be? Surely, he thought the one on the table had been the only one Nova had seen, and then overreacted. But more? Did the SHIELD Helicarrier have an infestation on their hands?

Spider-Man thought about it for a moment.

_Naaaahhh._

He flopped back onto the couch and became flipping through channels, hoping for some good shows amongst the myriad of reality television. Spider-Man would've watched those, too, if he didn't think SHIELD security cameras were watching them right now. Which they totally were, no matter what Fury said otherwise. Spider-Man wasn't stupid. Fury's secrets had secrets. You couldn't trust anything a spy said when it came to security.

Meanwhile, Nova was changing in his room, hanging his soggy suit on his bed, which would surely be wet later, but he decided he was too lazy to do anything about it right now. Since his other suit was in dry-cleaning (thanks to a nasty run-in with that glue guy. What was his name again? Glue-Head? The Sticker? He couldn't remember all these stupid names super-villains came up with.)

Nova thought he was free of the ants in his room, but was horrified to find he was wrong. The revelation came to him when he spotted one clinging to his suit as he was putting on a dry shirt. He nearly had a heart attack.

The ant didn't seem to be moving. Maybe it had drowned in the water. It was clinging to the leg, as if it had somehow managed to climb up there but didn't have the will to go further. Nova was petrified, trying to decide what to do. Was it already dead? Nova didn't want to take the chance it wasn't, but he also didn't want to get any closer than he had to.

Nova had put on a brave face in the break room, when Spider-Man was there. He didn't want Spider-Man (and by proxy, the rest of the team and the SHIELD Helicarrier) to know that he was also deathly afraid of ants, as well as bunnies, those furry devils. He shuddered, then took deep breaths before he started to hyperventilate. _Come on, Nova, keep your head on. Fury's probably got a camera on you right now - if he sees you freaking out over some invisible nightmare, he's gonna send you the loony bin, and then you'll never get to show the world how awesome you are_.

What to do, what to do...

Then Nova decided he had to end this, once and for all.

OoOoO

Power Man did not plan to hitch a ride on Nova to his room, much less get half-drowned, then stomped to death when the Buckethead finally spotted him.

How was he going to send a message to Nova if all the guy was going to do was try to zap him on sight? Power Man at least had Spider-Man to thank for - had he not freaked Nova out and make him leave his helmet behind, Power Man might be dust right now.

Still, there had to be a way. Power Man couldn't give up now. He'd been given a mission and he was going to see it through, no matter what. So he formulated a plan while he hid from Nova inside his closet.

His plan was simple, perhaps even deadly but Power Man tried not to let it get him down. He knew that, by whatever means necessary, he had to get Nova's attention, and he was going to need that magnifying glass.


	6. Chapter 6

**Next chapter is up! Yay!**

**Enjoy!  
**

**Reviews are appreciated.  
**

* * *

Chapter Six

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

**11:15 AM**

Jasper watched in horror as his sister Cubic Zirconia was fried underneath a magnifying glass, her powers unable to protect her in their miniature state. He was completely incapable of doing anything, and found himself near insanity when Diamond was crushed underneath Spider-Man when he sat down to inspect the spot of Cubic Zirconia's death.

With both sisters gone, Jasper hadn't a clue as to what he should do. Run out of here, give himself up? Just die alongside his sisters? Maybe he could get the attention ask them to spare him, just maybe, because he really didn't want to die.

He had no idea what his twin sisters were doing on the table in the break room. Had they tried to follow him somehow? Jasper had no idea how they could've achieved it, being so busy arguing with each other to actually do anything useful and all. Maybe they were trying to help him, for once, but never got the chance? Maybe they had finally learned to accept one another, get along, and find a way out of here, right before that weird buckethead kid fried one and Spider-man sat on the other.

What a bad way to go.

That's when Jasper saw the other two supers on top of the couch, and realized he still had a chance, a way to succeed where his sisters had failed.

Summing up all the courage he had left (it wasn't much), Jasper finally ran from his hiding place underneath the counter and sprinted full-tilt in the direction of the couch where Spider-man had returned to watch TV. Climbing up the monster was a pain the ass, but Jasper did it, he was proud to say.

He grappled the worn fabric all the way to the top, hauling himself over and flipping onto his back, taking huge gasps as he allowed himself to catch his breath.

"Get him!"

Jasper was suddenly tackled by two very hostile super teens, one dressed in green, the other in white with _very_ sharp claws. He desperately struggled to get free and surprised himself by putting up a good fight. Above him, the girl shouted, "Ugh, we shouldn't have split up! Power Man wouldn't have trouble holding this guy down if he were here!"

"Less complaining," Iron Fist grunted taking an errant foot to the chin. It was hard to tell exactly whose foot it was, but he had a suspicion it wasn't the villain's. "More focus."

White Tiger wrapped Jasper in a half-nelson, effectively immobilizing the thinner super. He kicked and bit, but White Tiger withstood the attacks and only squeezed tighter. He yelped in pain and ceased to fight, trying to catch his breath before she crushed it out of him.

Now no longer giving them any trouble, White Tiger demanded, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I was just trying to find help, I swear!" Jasper cried, pulling at White Tiger's arm so she didn't snap his neck out of mere frustration. "I just want to get out of here alive. My sisters - all they do is fight, they wouldn't do anything! So I got away, climbed down, almost died a couple times, then saw you guys up here. I thought - I thought maybe since you're heroes, you wouldn't let me die!"

White Tiger seriously looked like she was considering it, but Iron Fist held up his hands, "Wait, Tiger. He is right. We are not cruel judges who use our power against those who only seek mercy from their plight. It is our duty to help him."

She looked a little disappointed, but released Jasper nonetheless. He gasped for air, leaning over and massaging his throat. He managed to croak, "Thanks."

"Hmph!" White Tiger turned up her nose to this business. "If he screws us over, Iron Fist, I'm blaming _you_."  
"I accept the responsibility," Iron Fist said, gazing at her evenly. "But I trust my judgment. He will not do us harm."

Jasper was overwhelmed with relief. At least _one_ of them didn't immediately want to kill him. Although he had been _sure_there was a third super teen, but Jasper couldn't see him anywhere. "Weren't there three of you?"

"Power Man's off doing his own thing. No idea where he went," White Tiger shrugged, crossing her arms. She jerked her head towards Spider-Man, who was eating chips and dip on the couch. "I say we get his attention. Spider-Man might know how make us regular sized again. I saw we try him. I don't think Nova is going to do us much good."

"I agree. We should do it now, while he is not distracted," Iron Fist nodded, and then turned to Jasper, who was still sitting and regaining composure. "It is best you join us. "

"Yeah, no problem," Jasper coughed, finally getting over White Tiger's chokehold. He would do anything if it meant being normal again. Even if he didn't get his powers back. "Let's go."

OoOoO

Nova couldn't find the ant again. It had dropped from his pants and disappeared somewhere in the mess of his room. Tiger always wanted him to organize it, and Iron Fist kept telling him the smell disrupted his meditation, but Nova never really listened (why would he?). The floor was covered in dirty laundry, open books and magazines, a variety of video games, and he was pretty sure a squirrel he adopted from Central Park.

He considered cleaning for the sole sake of finding and killing that ant, but then he thought - well, if Nova's cosmic rays couldn't kill it, then surely his week-old socks would. That stuff was toxic.

Putting on a clean suit, Nova returned the break room, where Spider-Man had once again managed to find the couch, a snack, and a new soap opera to watch. This one was in Spanish, on a channel Nova had never even heard of, and male lead was in the running for the world's biggest feathered bullet. It was so Eighties that Nova felt like he was aging backwards, into a time where the music was great, the fashion terrible, and Nick Fury still had two eyes. It made him feel both nostalgic and disgusted at the same time.

There were no subtitles, so Nova had no idea why Spider-Man was watching. He was pretty sure the nerd took Latin classes, not Spanish, so why was he watching like he understood what was going on? "Dude, do you even know what they're saying?"

"Nope, but I like making up dialogue in my head," Spider-Man replied, stuffing his mouth full with chips and dip. It was a miracle he could still breathe. "See, he wants his deodorant back, but she's using it for the secret ingredient for her special batch she cooks for the drug cartel weird cousin Marco runs. Now he's ticked because he wants to know how she learned to cook so well, but always burns their chicken dinner."

Nova stared at Spider-Man. "I can't believe Fury keeps you on our team."

"It's one of my more endearing qualities." Spider-Man grinned.

Nova sat back, watching the screen. He tried to figure out what the actors were saying through context, but he gave up when an Apache Helicopter made an appearance, alongside some military guy with an AK-47. He didn't know what soap opera this was about, but he glad he wasn't in it.

"Pass the chips," he said, reaching over for some. Spider-Man didn't even look when he handed the bag over, his eyes glued to the screen. As he grabbed a bunch into his hands, Nova dipped at least three at once into the bowl of dip, scooping up giant dollops and stuffing them into his mouth.

As he continued to eat, Nova was aware of a tiny squeaking sound. It was almost imperceptible, barely louder than whisper, but it was most certainly there and not in his head. Nova looked around, trying to figure out where exactly this noise was coming from. But it was so tiny that it didn't seem to _have_ a source, and examining every little speck of dirt on the floor was making him anxious again. What if he found another ant?

The sound eventually went away and Nova relaxed. Spider-Man didn't seem to have heard anything, not caring for anything besides the soap opera in front of him. How could a guy get so lost in TV land to not notice anything else? Nova admired this trait, among other things, about Spider-Man. How great would it be to not get distracted by the dumbest things?

Nova settled in his seat and watched TV in silence. He smiled, still under the impression that this whole 'ant problem' was over with.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry I didn't update last week, I just didn't have anything written for ANY of my stories. I guess I had to have one of those weeks eventually. Anyways, back on schedule!**

**There's also no Spider-Man/Nova POV in this chapter. It mostly focuses on the shrunken supers. **

**Reviews are appreciated.**

* * *

Chapter Seven

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

**11:10 AM**

Diamond certainly hadn't meant for Cubic Zirconia to get fried, but oh well. It wasn't her fault that her sister's powers were inconsistent in their miniature state.

It all went downhill as soon as one of them (they argued exactly who discovered it first, so it didn't really matter) saw that Jasper was no longer with them. After another fight about whose fault it was to have let him slip away, they managed to agree on finding him and giving him a piece of their minds.

Somehow, through sheer force of will and a surprising lack of patience, the twins climbed down the shelving onto the refrigerator, and from there commandeered some dust balls that floated over to the table. From there, they wanted to get to the floor after spotting Jasper ducking under the cupboards, but had to hide amongst the bowl of grapes after Nova spotted them and pursued his attempts to end their existences.

It was Diamond who prodded Cubic Zirconia to redeem herself of her semi-precious sins and make a break for the edge of the table while Nova was looking for something to kill them with. Of course, she had overestimated how long it would take Nova to find something and Cubic Zirconia was only half-way there when he dropped down with magnifying glass.

Cubic Zirconia had the wits about her to dodge the first couple attacks, when the magnified circle of light turned into the Blazing Death Beam From Hell Itself. Diamond could only wince when her twin was caught under the beam's fury and exploded into a pile of ash.

"Ew."

But Diamond realized that her sister's death was not _completely_ in vain, that maybe her one final act of life might actually be useful and not time wasting, as she usually was. Nova, distracted, did not see Diamond running down the other end of the table, hoping to get down before he could notice her and fry her alive alongside her sister.

Of course, Nova thought he had succeeded in his attempt to rid the world of all ants, so went on to celebrate and rub it in Spider-Man's face. Spider-Man, not to be outdone, decided to approach the table while Diamond was making her getaway. She couldn't escape the descending shadow as Spider-Man's gigantic derriere neared the table, and could only utter a single scream before being crushed beneath the monstrosity.

Her last thoughts were: _God, please let me be a tough stain to wash out._

Then - splat!

OoOoO

White Tiger was going to do whatever it took to get those losers' attention. Even if it meant jumping up and down, shouting, and getting absolutely no results whatsoever. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

Nova had at least heard them, but couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from. When he started to look around, the three of them started jumping up and down, excited and hopeful that _this was it, they were saved_. But nope! Nova went back to eating his stupid chips and dip, because why the hell not.

"So, what do we do now?" Iron Fist asked. He motioned towards the room, shoulders slumped in a bought of depression. "Power Man is nowhere to be seen and we're trapped like this for who knows how long. What do we do if we can't get them to see us?"

"You can't think like that," White Tiger told him, although she herself was beginning to feel a little desperate and scared. Still, remaining like this for the rest of her life was _not_ an option she was okay with. "We have to keep trying. What would Fury say if we gave up so easily? He wouldn't let us back on the team!"

Jasper frowned, gazing down at the two super teens slouching in their seats. Hanging out behind their heads wasn't going to work, he had to get closer somehow. But what could he do that would earn their attention? He thought for a moment, then began to climb down the edge of the couch, near Nova's arm.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" White Tiger demanded. She reached down, trying to swipe at him and bring him back up, but the super-reluctant-villain was too far out of reach. He kept going down, despite her warnings. That's when she noticed her communicator was missing, now being worn by the super villain. "Hey, get back here! That's not yours!"

White Tiger leaned too far forward and almost started to fall, but Iron Fist caught her arm and brought her back before she could plunge. She gasped and stumbled, falling onto her butt and gazing down at the crazy villain. "I have no idea what he's doing, but I hope it hurts. I'm seriously considering the idea of just finding the nearest cell phone and texting them."

"Good idea, if we even knew where they were," Iron Fist added, sitting cross-legged down beside her. He rested his palms on his knees and closed his eyes, taking deep, measured breaths.

White Tiger threw him a strange look. "What are you doing?"

"Meditating," he said. "It helps pass the time."

"Uh, okay," White Tiger turned back to watch Jasper's descent. In her opinion, there were a lot more interesting and useful things one could be doing other than meditating to pass the time. Studying, for instance. One could never study hard enough, for any subject. Too bad she didn't have any textbooks nearby, or she'd be reading them as well.

Jasper struggled to climb down the fabric of the couch to get to the supers, but he couldn't back out now, considering he was already half-way down. It'd be a pain if he decided to go back up and waste all that effort just getting there.

It took a lot of gumption to snag the fancy communication device from White Tiger, but Jasper didn't know how else to cement his identity as a super-villain. He wanted to make his parents proud, and possibly call them to pick him up. Although he felt kind of bad about leaving the two tiny supers up there by themselves, he realized he still had selfish desires and those had to come first.

His limbs trembled but Jasper didn't let it faze him too much. He dropped down onto Nova's arm and carefully brought himself down across the super's hand. This one, thankfully, wasn't the one he used to eat chips. It didn't move too much and Jasper was sure he could get his attention from here. He tried getting Nova's attention by jumping and shouting. Only this time, he actually accomplished something.

Nova looked down, surprised to see him. Jasper thought - _yes_, the day was saved! But before he could celebrate, Nova smirked and suddenly picked up the tiny super villain (who could only manage a cry of "_What the hell_!") and dumped him into the bowl of ranch dip.

_Plop!_

He hit the dip like it was more solid than liquid. He sank slowly in, and sucked deeper when Spider-Man stuck a chip and pulled out a dollop. Jasper panicked and kicked his legs for all he was worth, trying to reach fresh air. The smell of onions was sharp all around him and made his eyes water.

Jasper momentarily thought he was safe when he broke surface, but he soon discovered how wrong he was. Nova and Spider-Man, like most hungry teenage boys, ate like walruses on a failed diet.

He barely managed to avoid one chip after the other. Each one was a challenge he had to face. On the couch above him, the two shrunken super teens were panicking, running around in circles, unsure of how to help him. Jasper hoped they would think of something soon, because this stuff was disgusting and not exactly easy to swim in. The dip had the consistency of wet cement when one was smaller than the size of an ant.

Then, suddenly, Jasper was being lifted into the air with incredible velocity, carried on a chip laden with dip. It rested in the fingers of one particular red-and-blue superhero. Jasper cried out, terrified. He tried to get to the edge of the chip, to kamikaze off the edge before he was eaten, but he couldn't get out of the dip fast enough.

Jasper realized the inevitability. Crap. He faced his demise with a brave face, squeezing his eyes shut and praying _I really hope this doesn't hurt_.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the hiatus, February was a very tough month for me. I haven't written anything on ANY of my stories, and this was the first I got to. I hope to get back on the horse, soon, though. I want to do so much, I feel so behind :/**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

**Reviews are appreciated. **

* * *

Chapter Eight

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

**11:20 AM**

Nova made very sure Spider-Man ate the ant-laden chip before deciding to say anything. He watched as Spider-Man chewed, swallowed, and burped before starting to grin. The grin quickly turned into an uncontrollable laugh and he accidentally choked on his own chips and dip.

He pounded on his chest while Spider-Man gave him a strange look, none the wiser. "What was _that_ all about?"

Nova considered telling Spider-Man what he had done, but decided not to. Why not make Spider-Man squirm for a little bit? He just smirked and said, "Nothing."

Spider-Man narrowed his eyes, sensing something fishy about Nova's attitude. He didn't like the way Buckethead was smiling light he knew something Spidey didn't. Nova also had a crappy poker face, so it didn't take very long for him to figure out the cosmic hero was up to something nefarious. "Dude, what did you do?"

"Nothing, I swear!" Nova claimed, holding up his hands in feigned innocence. He couldn't stop laughing, though, so it was kind of hard to sound very convincing.

Obviously, Spider-Man was not fooled. He jabbed a finger into Nova's chest, leaning in and demanding, "Tell me what you did. I _know_ you did something. And stop laughing like that! You're starting to freak me out."

"All right, but you have to promise me something first before I tell you,"

Rolling his eyes, Spider-Man sighed inwardly. Why did Nova have to make him wait for so long? He was starting to wonder if Nova had really done anything at all. "Fine, whatever. Just tell me all ready!"

"You have to promise you won't take my helmet and throw it into the Hudson, okay?" came Nova's strange request. It send dread running through Spider-Man's stomach. The last time he pitched Nova's helmet into the river was when he accidentally erased Spider-Man's hard drive on his computer. It had been a major offense, so he hated to think of what Nova had done that would warrant the same response.

"Oh, no, what did you do?" Spider-Man stood up, looking down at his suit and checking for any unseen changes that he hadn't noticed. He noticed a spot on the back of his leg that he hadn't seen before, but that didn't really seem to be what Nova was talking about. "Dude, you didn't dump me in itching powder, did you?"

"Ha, no," Nova snorted, leaning back in his seat and bringing his arms up around his head. He looked awfully smug for a guy that was trying to push Spider-Man's buttons. "Take a wild guess."

Spider-Man was not liking where this was going. He stopped turning around in his spot and glared at Nova. There was no way he could guess whatever morbid crime Nova had just committed. "Spill it right now, Buckethead, or the deal is off. You're helmet is going into the Hudson no matter what happens."

"Okay, okay, fine!" Nova straightened and brought out his hands before Spider-Man could fully renege on his promise. He really didn't want to go through a deep-sea search for his helmet again – the last time took over five hours, and Nova stunk for two whole weeks after that! "Well, um, you might want to sit down for this."

Spider-Man stared at Nova, completely silent. He wasn't going to do anything.

"Have it your way," Nova muttered. He figured it wouldn't hurt – maybe sitting would have made it easier for Spider-Man to take the news, but now he'd never know. "All right. Since you want to know so bad...I put an ant in the ranch dip. I made you eat it."

Spider-Man gaped at him, a strange noise coming from his throat. It wasn't quite a word, neither a scream. It was something in between, a noise to indicate the gears inside Spider-Man's head turning ferociously, trying to comprehend the evil act that had just been committed against his body. Nova watched with muscles tense, wincing in case Spider-Man fell off the sanity train and went all Doctor-Octopus-Rampage on him.

"You. Did. _What_?" The Webhead spat through gritted teeth. Nova was very aware of Spider-Man's hands slowly curling into fists at his sides, as the confusion and shock was replaced with seething fury; and disgusted, mostly with the idea that he just ate a bug – and a floor-crawling ant for that matter. How much bacteria had been on that thing? Spider-Man shuddered at the thought. "To. My. Food?"

_Oooh, rookie move, Cosmic Wonder._ Nova chastised himself. Never mess with a super's food. Yep. This was going to suck.  
Still, he had a chance of making it better. "Hey, ants are full of protein. I actually did you a favor, Spider-Man, you should be thanking me!"

Yeah, that didn't really help.

"You want thanks?" Spider-Man took a single, rather menacing step towards Nova, who realized just how much shit he got himself into. "I'll give you some thanks, all right."

Nova scrambled up and flipped over the back end of the couch, backing away quickly before Spider-Man could make another move. Oh, man, he probably had three seconds before arachnid-flavored feces hit the fan. "Hey, dude, it's nothing personal! It was just a stupid prank, okay? I didn't mean anything –!"

"ARRGH!" Spider-Man lunged for Nova, who in response uttered a girlish scream and tore out of the room. Spider-Man turned on his heel and went after the panicking teammate. "Get back here, you lousy piece of star dust! I'm not finished with you!"

OoOoO

White Tiger shaded her eyes with her hand as the two supers shot out of the room, fighting and shouting. "Well, there goes that idea. Morons."

"Yes, an unexpected turn of events," A small frown formed on Iron Fist's lips as he settled back down into the lotus position. He had since resigned himself of the idea that they could be saved by the heroes. He held more faith in patience, and that this problem will sort itself out on its own, just as nature does. "All there's left to do now is wait."

White Tiger, too, had given up on her normal-sized teammates and slumped down next to Iron Fist. Her shoulders slackened and she flopped down on her back, exhausted with the wasted effort it took just to get this far. How inefficient. "You think we'll ever be normal again?"

"I believe the natural order of the universe will bring back the equilibrium of our routine lives," was Iron Fist's rather cryptic reply. At White Tiger's sharp look, he clarified, "Yeah, I'd give it a day or two."

"Ugh, I'm starving," White Tiger ran a hand over her face before deciding to do away with her mask. It wasn't going to do her much help anyways, now that she was so small that even her enemies couldn't recognize her. "I'm going down there to get some chips. I've got a serious case of the munchies."

"As do I," Iron Fist nodded, following White Tiger as she slid down the cushion of the couch towards the chips and dip. "I hope Power Man is having better luck than we are."

"Seeing as how he's not back here as his normal gigantic self, I'd say he's in the same situation we are," White Tiger shrugged, climbing into the bag of chips. She was so small that the only thing bite-sized for her were the little crumbs at the bottom. Which was fine with her, even if they were a little salty. She seriously needed the calories. "Wow, I never thought I'd love chips anymore than I do right now."

"Agreed," Iron Fist said, joining her in their impromptu feast.

OoOoO

Jasper did not expect to make it past Spider-Man's teeth, much less his throat and esophagus. But lo and behold, he was still alive and breathing, in some dark dank place that smell tremendously bad. Is this was stomach acid smelt like? The ranch dip wasn't making it any better. Yuck.

He found himself floating on a particular large piece of chip, treading the acid of the stomach. It wasn't particularly pleasant (and impossible to see, which was probably more a blessing than a curse all things considered). Jasper knew that there was no turning back now, that the only way out was down, and there was a zero-to-nil chance he was getting out of it as anything less than a skeleton. Man, this had been a very bad day.

Jasper considered just jumping off the edge and ending it all now. Why suffer any longer than he had to? But that didn't feel very satisfying, and he wasn't sure he had the gumption to take his own life instead of it taking its natural course. Granted, he never expected said course to take him through someone's digestive tract, but he supposed Fate had a sense of humor. After all, she seemed determined to make his entire life a confusing, contradicting mess. He had accepted that a long time ago.

He briefly mourned for his dead sisters, then realized that there was a good chance that had either of them been in his situation right now, they probably wouldn't do the same for him. Instead, he decided to reflect on all the things he wanted to do with his life: travel the world, straighten out his life, earn his parent's respect (or maybe kill them, he couldn't decide. Either way, they made him pretty miserable). Jasper had always wanted to move out and live his own life, but never had what it took to be independent. He was depressed to find the one chance he took ended with him in someone's stomach.

This life sucked.

Jasper tried to think of all the good things he experienced, only to find there weren't many. Okay, finding out he had superpowers was pretty great, but that was about it. Maybe using them for heroism instead of evil would have made his life turn out a little differently. Now he would never know.

He wished he had some last words to say or some way to tell the universe he hadn't been completely defeated, although he was about to die. Jasper couldn't think of any, which was just as well. Who would have heard him anyways? He was all alone down here.

Sudden movement almost launched Jasper into the acid, and he clung onto the chip for dear life as his host decided to get up. At least, that's what he thought happened. He couldn't really tell what was going on outside. Had Spider-Man realized what he had eaten? For a moment, Jasper fantasized the moment, Spider-Man's reaction. Oh, it would have been priceless, wouldn't it? Jasper wished he could've seen it, feel at least some level of satisfaction before it all had to end.

That was it. He hoped Spider-Man was revolted – no, even worse, _disgusted_, and that maybe Jasper carried some terrible unknown disease with him that would give Spider-Man endless grief. Yeah, that was the way to go.

Jasper smiled to himself, even as the world around him shook dangerously once more. Although he would never see it, he knew that Spider-Man wasn't going to enjoy the next twenty-four hours while Jasper was in his system.

As Spider-Man lunged forward, the chip upended, sending a smug super villain on the start of a very painful journey.


	9. EPILOGUE

**Final chapter, guys! Thanks for reading this fanfiction! I really appreciate all the reviews, favorites, follows and whatnots. It makes me happy every time I see them in my e-mail :D**

**Sorry this is so short. I tried to extend it as far as I could go, but there weren't a lot of plot threads I had to clean up. If there are any adjustments you want me to make, just send me a pm :)**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

EPILOGUE

That evening, Spider-Man was not having a good time.

He was experiencing a series of stomach and intestinal cramps, all of which had him going to the bathroom several times, to the concern of Aunt May. Peter couldn't explain it, although he had a good feeling Nova might be behind it. Chalking it up to a case of food poisoning, Peter confronted Buckethead but the guy had no idea why Pete was feeling out of sync that day. He assumed that the ant he had slipped into the dip may have been carrying some sort of nasty bacteria that Peter's immune system was fighting the only way it knew how.

Peter wished that this was all it was, but the way the bathroom stunk wasn't much of a condolence.

The rest of the night was spent that way. Neither of them had any clue where the other three were. White Tiger could have been easily at the library, studying and using up all the Internet she wanted without using Pete's computer. Power Man was probably at the school gym, bulking up or watching a football game. Iron Fist was kind of a wild card – no one knew where that guy went on his walks. Peter just assumed he went to Central Park to meditate and play with the ducks.

The pain was over within a few hours though. Peter wasn't surprised. Spiders were like the rulers of all bugs, arachnids or no. A silly little exoskeleton could never take down the mighty and powerful Spider-Man – what kind of hero would he be if an _ant_ of all things, did him in? SHIELD would be so embarrassed that he would never have a chance of joining the Avengers. No, Peter could not stand to let that happen.

Meanwhile, throughout the night, Nova's wrist communicator kept going off. The first couple times he thought it was Spider-Man pranking him, but the Webhead insisted that he had no idea what was going on. Nova continued to get grumpier and grumpier. He desperately wanted to sleep after today, and the phantom calls were not helping his fabulous hair.

There was nothing within the calls, just white noise and the occasional gurgle on the scratchy black and white screen. Nova tried to locate the calls, but they kept leading him to Spider-Man's stomach. Assuming this to be a malfunction, Nova decided he would ask Fury for a new communicator the next day. Nova would not allow this disturbance to ruin his chance of winning Best Dressed on Picture Day tomorrow.

During the night, Spider-Man was itchy. He couldn't stop scratching at himself, particularly his posterior. It bothered him the entire night, as much as Nova's communicator kept him awake. At some point near early morning before his alarm went off, Spider-Man went back to bed and had one final scratch. This time his hand withdrew with some strange white particles. He brushed his fingers together, but the white particles disintegrated before he could get a better look-see at what they actually were.

Little did Spider-Man know, they were the remains of Jasper, who had spent the night on a red eye flight through Spider-Man's insides. It was a particularly turbulent ride and the super-villain did _not_ come out in one piece. In fact, there wasn't much left of him besides his very delicate skeleton, which was promptly destroyed between Spider-Man's fingers. Jasper, quite literally, went through hell.

Completely coincidentally, Nova's communicator had stopped going off around the same time. Neither really questioned it because both were glad for it all to be over with and just wanted to get a couple hours of sleep before the sun rose. Neither boys were looking forward to school that day – Nova almost considered skipping, but Fury would likely find out and send him there anyways.

Meanwhile, back on the Helicarrier, Power Man, White Tiger, and Iron Fist had returned to full size – simultaneously, just as the janitor came to do an early morning clean-up of the teen's break room. All three woke up to the screaming of a man as he tore out of the room, out of his mind with terror.

One couldn't really blame the janitor, especially when he had just turned on the vacuum cleaner to take care of the popcorn on the couch, only to suddenly have it speared through by White Tiger's claws. She happened to be very twitchy, even in her sleep. The janitor nearly had his face sliced through and had decided immediately afterward he was not working for crazy, paranoid people living in flying death machines filled with super-powered teenagers that could teleport and kill him in his sleep.

That morning Fury would ask where the janitor was to pick up the mess, but no one would ever see that man again.

All three super teens were groggy and exhausted from the day before. They had given up trying to return to normal size, and simply decided they would live as Lilliputians for the rest of their lives. Maybe they could form their own Avengers team – the Mini Avengers, or something like that. They'd make the excellent espionage team, if they could actually get anywhere on time in their tiny size.

They had no idea how they got back to normal overnight, merely glad that they didn't have to deal with supergiant Nova or Spider-Man fooling around. All three made a pact to never speak of those moments again, and never tell either Spider-Man or Nova. Those two would never let them live it down again.

White Tiger went to school that day with a determination to not let the night bog down her studies. Iron Fist decided to meditate through math and study hall in order to catch up on his inner Zen sessions. Power Man broke three punching bags trying to relieve the stress he experienced that night. Nevermore would he have to deal with the terror of being tiny every again.

Their frantic and erratic behaviors drew eyes that day. Ava couldn't even look at popcorn without feeling nauseous, Luke ran at the sight of very large cockroach in the Boy's Locker Room. Danny accidentally melted his lunch when his powers alighted when he was holding his tray. It took considerable care to keep anyone else from noticing as he sat down with the rest of the team in the cafeteria lunchroom.

They, of course, noticed the mal-formed tray around Iron Fist's, erm, fist but were wise enough not to mention it. Sam coughed, as if to say: _Dude, you dun goof'd_.

Peter was the only person who didn't think any of this was odd. After all, he was Spider-Man. He had seen some pretty freaky stuff. Melting lunch trays were pretty tame, all things considering. "So, how did everyone sleep?"

No one seemed to be able to look at each other. Luke just stared at his mystery meat and Ava busied herself with her physics textbook. Sam began to hum a nameless tune and Danny just sat there, trying to pry his hand out of the molded tray.

Peter glanced at each of them in turn, then just shrugged to himself and said, "Well, I had this freaky dream where all of you were tiny people and were trying to get back to normal. But you were stuck in the streets of New York and you kept getting stepped on by pedestrians. It..., um, didn't end well." Peter remembered that his dream ended with them all dying and wondered if maybe that wasn't the best story to tell them.

"Wow, that's, um, funny," Luke said, trying to lighten the situation. The extended silence was killing him and not talking was making him paranoid. "'Cuz I had the exact same dream."

"Me, too," Ava added, not about to be left out in her alibi.

"As did I," Danny nodded solemnly.

"Are you guys serious?" Sam stared at his teammates, bewildered. Then he snorted on his mashed potatoes as he shoveled a massive quantity of it into his mouth. "Wow, you guys are all freaks. Now which one of you messed with my communicator last night? You guys know I need my beauty sleep! You think all this perfection is easy to come by?"

Luke choked on his milk and everyone started to crack up, laughing. Even the usually stern and stoic Ava joined in – they were so loud, in fact, that they drew attention from the other kids in the cafeteria.

Sam was the only one not in the joke. He looked around, frowning. "What's so funny, guys? Wait, is there something on my face? Danny, be honest. Do I? Guys? Are you going to tell me or what? Come on, this isn't cool anymore...!"


End file.
